If you have stairs at your home or office, take them every chance you get. But don’t stop there. For a strong cardio workout, walk up and down the stairs repeatedly. Start with a limited number of repetitions, then increase them as you feel stronger.
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Mounting evidence consistently demonstrates the relationship between social engagement and higher levels of physical, mental, and cognitive functioning and its association with longer life spans. By contrast, socially isolated individuals face health risks comparable to those of smokers.
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We’ve seen that loving relationships can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression — a fact that may give the immune system a boost. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that people who exhibit positive emotions are less likely to get sick after exposure to cold or flu viruses. The study, published in Psychosomatic Medicine,compared people who were happy and calm with those who appeared anxious, hostile, or depressed.
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Each time you wipe off the machine or weights you’re using at the gym, it’s an act of love, paying it forward, toward the next user. Good for you.
Smoking is strongly linked to disease and early death.
Overall, men and women who smoke may lose up to 10 years of their lives and be three times more likely to die prematurely than those who never pick up a cigarette.
Fortunately, it’s never too late to quit.
One study reports that individuals who quit smoking by 35 years of age may prolong their lives by up to 8.5 years.
Furthermore, quitting smoking in your ’60s may add up to 3.7 years to your life. In fact, quitting in your ’80s may still even provide benefits.
Breakfast jump-starts your metabolism and stops you for overeating later. Studies show adults who have a healthy breakfast do better at work, and kids who eat a morning meal score higher on tests.
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Despite being high in fat, nuts are incredibly nutritious and healthy.
They are loaded with magnesium, vitamin E, fiber and various other nutrients.
Studies show that nuts can help you lose weight, and may help fight type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Additionally, about 10-15% of the calories in nuts aren’t even absorbed into the body, and some evidence suggests that they can boost metabolism .
In one study, almonds were shown to increase weight loss by 62% compared to complex carbohydrates .
A study published in the January issue of Cognition found that people who walked backward, imagined they were walking backward, or even watched a video simulating backward motion had better recall of past events than those who walked forward or sat still. . . . In all cases, people who were moving backward, thought about moving backward, or saw a video depicting reverse motion were better able to recall the information they had been shown earlier, compared with those sitting still. In five of the six experiments, memory was better when people moved backward than when they moved forward. On average, the boost in memory lasted for 10 minutes after people stopped moving.
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The world’s longest lived people chose–or were born into–social circles that supported healthy behaviors, Okinawans created ”moais”–groups of five friends that committed to each other for life. Research from the Framingham Studies shows that smoking, obesity, happiness, and even loneliness are contagious. So the social networks of long-lived people have favorably shaped their health behaviors.
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Floss daily to prevent the buildup of gum-disease-causing bacteria, which are increasingly being implicated in heart disease.
Prioritize sleep. Getting too few winks may lower your immunity and invite everything from obesity to accidents. Aim for a minimum of six nightly hours, says Luigi Ferrucci, director of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.
Flex your mental muscle by writing, reading, or playing games, such as crossword puzzles. Despite there being no proven way to cut the chances of Alzheimer’s, some research suggests that keeping the brain active from childhood on may somewhat armor against the disease.
